Suspension
by Charmed Lassie
Summary: With Gina suspended June starts to worry. Slash.


A/N: This was set after Inspector Gold was suspended. I hope it makes sense.

* * *

June walked into the dark office, contemplating switching the light on and deciding against it. There were a few officers laughing down the corridor so she closed the door and walked slowly behind the desk, sitting shakily.

No doubt it was going to take some getting used to, for all concerned. An Inspector like Gina Gold would inevitably rise from the ashes, stronger than ever and ready for battle, but it was the time in between which concerned June. The moments when she was forced to make tough decisions, the instances when she realised one of her officers was in danger... But what worried her the most was a much more imminent problem- that of telling Gina that she was practically dancing on her corpse as she took over the role of Acting Inspector.

Their relationship was strained to say the least. Not many could survive a rape and its subsequent problems, not to mention the fact that one of the parties was Gina Gold. It was asking for trouble really. But despite that they were still together, June still went round every night, watched Gina open bottle after bottle, berated her for it. Though it was dysfunctional it was the way they were. Gina and June. Inspector and Sergeant. Now the balance was being altered.

Did Gina have an alcohol problem? June smiled slightly as she looked at the plant which had been drowned only the previous day in whisky. Yes, Gina had an alcohol problem. Did she realise it? Oh, yes, she was more than aware. But change wasn't an option. Change meant the madness they'd found themselves in almost six months earlier would be dissolved; it was a madness built on who they were, what they needed but most of all what they meant to each other. All of which were about to be blown apart by this suspension and promotion.

One seemingly average evening after a hefty day had been the beginning. The first time June had ever felt the need to visit the Inspector in the privacy of her own home, a decision she immediately regretted when the door was answered with a screech. But it was the cancer, wasn't it? The reason she'd been distracted and once that was out in the open they'd inevitably grown closer. June found it strange to think that if a cruel disease hadn't struck she wouldn't have found a lover like Gina Gold; a riddle that she occasionally pondered over, usually in the still of the night when the only sounds were regular breathing.

Gina didn't bother with such things, she was certain. Her view was plain and not in the least hopeful. The times were good, she admitted that, but not for wondering about. They were for enjoying, nothing else. That was part of what was terrifying June as she sat in the bleak office. Times were about to get unpleasant.

In truth, that had started a few weeks earlier with the arrival of Superintendent Prosser. Gina was still smarting from Adam's rejection of her help after the loss of his family and finding she was less than compatible with his temporary replacement put her in a foul mood most of the time. June saw the distance in her eyes each time she landed on the doorstep, increasing each night. They still woke up together but Gina felt a million miles away as she tried to survive in her new hostile working environment.

So the good times had been slipping for a while, did it necessarily mean they were about to stop dead? After all, what they shared was fantastic, June doubted Gina could deny that. Nor could the Inspector honestly claim she wanted it to end. Surely that meant they would pull through together.

No, June told herself sharply, you're kidding yourself. Sitting in Gina's chair with papers over her desk... Well, Gina Gold was the most territorial copper you were ever going to meet. To face facts would be to admit that her days of kissing the Inspector into submission were well and truly over.

As if on cue the phone on the desk rang. Leaving it was tempting but, no, her duties started then and there. 'Inspector Go... Inspector's office.'

'So that's where you are.'

Ah, the woman herself. June mentally prepared herself for the inevitable. 'How did you know where to reach me?'

'Well, Smithy told me, didn't he?'

'Oh.'

'June, what the hell's wrong with you?'

'What do you mean?'

'I've just been suspended! The least you could do is buy me a bloody drink!'

Gradually, a smile spread over her face. 'I'll be right round.'


End file.
